Shutterbugs, Enter the Joshua Tree Photo Contest

You might see your beautiful snap on the national park's 2020 annual pass.

By Alysia Gray Painter •Published May 14, 2019•Updated on May 14, 2019 at 5:54 pm

NPS/Robb Hannawacker

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK? Merely labelling it as "big" doesn't fully convey its considerable size. breadth, and wide-of-scope-a-tude. And the desert destination's considerable size doesn't fully translate into how big it can make a visitor feel inside, and how inspired, and full of creative vision, and hope, too. There's bigness all around, is what we're trying to say, in the exterior sense and inside the hearts/minds of those who call upon the park for peace, beauty, and time away from the everything-musts of life. And yet? With all of those acres — there are nearly 800,000 of 'em to explore, all told — those people who snap pictures in the park do have a knack for gravitating to its most prominent features. Skull Rock? So amazing, and so, so photographed. Barker Dam? Same.

THE PARK... is hoping to call out all of the other ethereal, epic, and astounding features of the beautiful place via a photo contest with an intriguing theme: "The Path Less Traveled." The cool competition is open through May 31, 2019, and if your photo is chosen, it will appear on the Joshua Tree National Park 2020 annual pass. That's rockin', totally, but here's an even more rockin' notion: That entrants will be called upon to celebrate less-photographed corners of the park. "Show us the more inconspicuous and less crowded parts of Joshua Tree National Park through your eyes," is the word from the people behind the contest. Closed sites are off-limits for the contest, as are "the most popular areas" (the contest page lists those places for reference).

"A LESS WELL-KNOWN AREA OF THE PARK"... is the theme of this contest, so if you'd love to possibly see your work on that annual pass, and maybe, fingers crossed, have your snapshot celebrated, find all of your gotta-enter info here. Also nice? You'll get an annual pass yourself, if your photo is picked, straight from The Joshua Tree National Park Association (the non-profit organization partnered with the national park). The ever-glorious, spirit-emboldening Joshua Tree National Park? It's literally hundreds of thousands of acres. Find a spot that hasn't been over-photo'd in these recent busy days at JTNP, and give it some well-deserved love. After all, if you feel big inside when visiting, maybe your photo, seen on the 2020 annual pass, can pass along some of that magic to the wearer.